I commented that "Sympathy For The Devil" would not make any Rolling Stones compilation I put together, and as I typed that I knew it was inevitable that would be the Weekend Mix..
Immediately "Exile On Main Street" came to mind. It's the last great Stones album, but how would it fare next to the 3 previous, "Beggar's Banquet", "Let it Bleed", and "Sticky Fingers"?
Especially if you go song by song.
Mick Jagger has indicated that it's not his favorite. He didn't think of it as a proper album, as it came from different sessions and lacked cohesion. He once described it as sounding "lousy" with "no concerted effort of intention," adding "at the time, Jimmy Miller was not functioning properly. I had to finish the whole record myself, because otherwise there were just these drunks and junkies."
It has a side's worth of filler, or "bonus tracks", nevermind the "new" ones. I have whittled it down to a single record. I kept the sequence intact, with one exception, "Happy" was a better side opener than "Loving Cup". I like not having to sit through "I Just Want To See His Face".
Sometimes less is more.
Rock On!
-BBJ
Further Exiled
I wonder which lp will win Sal's survey?
16 comments:
No Let It Loose?
Funny, I always play sides1-3. Side 4 is my filler.
Thanks for this! Though 'Let It Loose' is one of my favorite Stones songs. Looking forward to giving to this a weekend listen.
"Sweet Virginia" and "Casino Boogie" are personal favorites of mine, but they didn't make the cut. "Let It Loose" is stylistically similar to "Shine A Light" but is a minute longer.
'I would never take Mick’s recollection of anything seriously.' - Keith Richards, 2010
I LIKE "Just Wanna See His Face."
Hello all...no, please remain seated,
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wNRKTFCA7c0
slightly off topic, I know....
But, as the original post quotes Mick's recollection of the Nellcote sessions...and our friend, Dr. Wu quotes Keith from his book...
The above link is a very recent video of Mick and Keith recalling their Edith Grove apartment days in London before the band broke big. Mick is the one who remembers things. Keith is, well, actually, he comes off rather sad. I'm not sure if he's under the influence or tired, or what. But Mick is very, very patient.
RichD
The filler cuts are better than many others best work, but there is nothing like "Just Wanna See His Face" on any of the previous classics. It's a sketch, not a song. I went with what I think is the strongest material.
Not starting trouble because I understand what you were trying to do with this mix. But, I just want to see his face, might be my third favorite on the entire record.
I've been skipping it so long I'm really no longer sure what happens after the first 30 seconds.
Exile doesn't need to be cut in my opinion. It's a short double, and, by and large, a very successful one. Mick is wrong about this album. it's musically strong and almost every one of his vocals is excellent. i think he let his annoyance with his bandmates take too strong a place in his judgment of the work. were they annoying? of that i have no doubt. is this album brilliant, dark, and nuanced beyond anything they did before or after? of that i also have no doubt.
i love the third side and agree with Sal that i just want to see his face is way near the top of the list of best songs.
truth is not the same as accuracy. mick may be more accurate about the time of the recording, and still not tell us a truth
No argument that "Exile" is pretty tight for a double album.
When I made this edit my aim was to do what Jimmy Miller,as producer, should have done in 1972 to craft a follow-up to "Sticky Fingers".
The album, as released, illustrates the beginning of the end of The World's Greatest Rock N Roll Band. Keith's heroin addiction, and annoying Bromance with Gram Parsons, created a wedge between his and Mick's relationship from which they've never recovered. That relationship was probably always temporary, as it coalesced over "What are we going to do about Brian?"
Mick was right about Jimmy Miller, "Goat's Head Soup", anyone?
It was hard deleting a couple personal favorites, but just because "You gotta scrape the shit right off your shoes" cracks me up, "Sweet Virginia" wasn't good enough to make the cut. I love the easy groove of "Casino Boogie", but the feel wasn't enough.
Even though "Shake Your Hips" is a rewrite of Bo Diddley's "Bring it To Jerome", it's tighter and better arranged.
I think are these are the best, most fully realized songs, and by clocking in at 46 minutes, would fair well in a song by song competition with it's predecessors.
Anyway thanks for the civil discourse.
The "Exile..." LP has been, er, exiled on my shelves for a while so I like this whittled down concept & while I may miss a couple of tunes it's a good enough refresher to get the album back on the turntable. Cheers!
Thanks dogbreath, that's the idea.
Interesting exercise. This is a "best of Exile", all cleaned up, but I like the additional songs. Even though some of them are just sketches and maybe not of high quality. They add to the atmosphere of this album and make it unique. Turd on the Run. Love that groove.
"Turd" is a good one.
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